THE GROWING ALARM

A few days ago when I was reading the NST, an article by Koh Lay Chin, "Growing alarm over sexualisation of young girls" caught my attention. She had been watching how girls as small as 4 years old, dancing like a grown up with all those sexy moves. She speaks her concerns over the topic wisely, and I would have to agree 100% to what she was saying.

"But there was something hinting at sexiness in those tiny moves, and I was not the only one who felt an awkward twitch by it. Apparently, parents and adults are getting more of those awkward twitches every day by the sexualisation of young girls, who feel the need to look, act, move or speak in a certain way to get attention or keep up with their peers."

May I also quote her last paragraph of the article:

"I can laugh about all this now since I don't have children, but I dread what I'll do in the future should I see my young child doing the provocative "booty shake". Summoning a crowd or videotaping it for posterity? Nay, I may just have to blow up the television set and lock Buttercup in a room forever. And ever."

I have been watching some ads on the telly promoting a tv show called bintang kecil or whatever equivalent (can hardly remember what the show was). Presumably, it is a singing competition between the young children since there were short clips of them singing in the ads. And dancing to the song, of course! Well, maybe I am just exaggerating the show, but I am sure there are lots of tv show nowadays that encourage kids to do some very provocative acts and I wonder what the parents think when they allow their kids to do such things.

May I quote again Koh Lay Chin last sentence:

"I may just have to blow up the television set and lock Buttercup in a room forever."